COUNTER-TERRORISM: Eliminating ‘Anything’ against State

Kahkashan Jabin

Assistant Professor at School of Law, Sandip University

 Best Citation – Kahkashan Jabin, COUNTER-TERRORISM: Eliminating ‘Anything’ against State, 2 ILE HRLR 17, 2022

Abstract

Human Rights are minimal rights conferred upon individuals against State for belonging to ‘member of human family’. Historical revolution has come up with the idea of imposing responsibility upon State for protection of citizens. The most crucial challenges that international community at presenti is facing is protection of human rights while countering terrorism. State has duty to protect its individuals from all sorts of unreasonable interferences; it has also the duty not to become a perpetrator of violence while addressing the issue of terrorism. The task of combating terrorism demands that anti-terror strategic measures should be twined with protection of human rights and rule of law. The international community has failed to give universal definition of ‘terrorism’ giving states a way too large battlefield in which the domain of terrorism has no predefined limits and unfortunately it has already left the domain of criminal jurisprudence. The concept of terrorism that started with anarchic methods adopted by the state to come to or remain in power has become the concept of eliminating the elements that are anti-state in nature. Terrorism started with ‘terrorism by the state’ turned to ‘terrorism against the state’ and reached to the climax of ‘eliminating anything against the state’. This eliminating tendency has devised the tools of arbitrary counter-terrorism legislations in the form of the TADA, POTA, and UAPA in Indian context. These laws are framed diluting the rules of criminal jurisprudence like nulla poena sine lege, nullum crimen sine lege, strict interpretation of criminal laws, presumption of innocence, and proof beyond reasonable doubts. Further their implementation result into gravest form of human rights violation. It’s the mockery of democracy that accused under counter-terrorism laws are activists, students, journalists, physicians, writers, poets, trade unionists, teachers, lawyers fighting against state’s arbitrary actions.

Keywords: Counter-terrorism, Criminal Jurisprudence, Human Rights, Rule of law, Terrorism.